Raw Food Diet

healthy appetite

By Natural Health+

Raw food diet relies on eating mainly raw food. Chosen dietary items are plant products that should not be processed, not cooked including fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains and even seaweed.

Cooking is believed to decrease the nutritional benefits of the fresh, raw food.

Benefits

· Speeds up metabolism — Inserting a raw food day once a week is acceptable to boost the metabolism and compensate for any dietary sins of the previous day.

· Guaranteed weight loss — Raw food, especially raw vegetables and fruit, is low in calories and high in fiber. The body burns more than it receives and must use its reserves, resulting to weight loss.

· Lowers risk of diseases — It also helps lower the risk of heart problems, makes skin glow healthier and prevents digestive illnesses.

Assessment

Raw food diet lacks the essential nutrients, fat, carbohydrates and proteins. Deficiencies on vitamins D, B2, B12, and minerals such as zinc, calcium and iodine would be harmful to the body.

For many people, raw food is hard to digest which causes diarrhea and stomach pain. Fatty acids, animal and vegetable fats, and proteins that are essential for the maintenance of the muscles cannot sufficiently be absorbed and digested. To those not used to the diet type, the first few days might cause nausea and headaches, too.

A raw food day, to emphasize, is very helpful in maintaining and even in reducing weight. Raw vegetables have a balancing effect and boost the metabolism. Just be cautious in terms of calories taken in the case of an exclusively raw diet because many fruits rich in sugar, e.g. bananas, cherries, and pineapple, have a lot of calories. Nuts also contain lots of fat and should not be eaten excessively.

In short, the diet is okay. Just avoid keeping to the treatment for a long time because it is also not good to give up essential nutrients that we get from cooked and baked foods.